Abstract

We used a fiber-optical dual-beam trap (single-mode fiber, λ = 532nm, trapping power ∼ 22mW, the distance between the two fiber end-faces = 125μm) to capture a Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cell with a diameter of approximately 15μm and tracked its three-dimensional Brownian motion via a pair of orthogonal quadrant photodiodes. By analyzing the Brownian motion of the trapped CHO cell, we determined the force constants of the optical force field on the CHO cell to be kx=6.75 pN/μm, ky=5.53 pN/μm, kz=1.96 pN/μm, and kx=2.91 pN/μm, ky=2.7 pN/μm, kz=0.79 pN/μm, respectively, before and after the CHO cell was treated with latrunculin, a toxic drug known to disrupt the cytoskeleton of the cell.

Calibration for the conversion of the QPD output voltage to the particle displacement via the power spectrum of the particle thermal fluctuation and the theoretical fitting (the red line) to a Lorentzian form.